Business

Tupperware is in bankruptcy but containers like these can still be found in your grandmother's pantry Photo: eBay In spite of the lifetime guarantee, Tupperware hasn't been able to push its quality products through the barrier of quick, cheap storage solutions online. The swish of air as the seal sticks fast. The multi-coloured, stackable storage in a fabulous new product - plastic! Gadgets made very much for specific purposes - the celery keeper, the lettuce drainer, the orange bowl that mum always used as a spew container. That last one not such a good example, perhaps, but you've probably realised by now we are talking about Tupperware, the 75-year-old company that invaded kitchens via parties where these wares were demonstrated over cheese and pineapple sticks. Now, Tupperware is b...

Smithfield meatworks plant in Timaru. Photo: RNZ / Tim Brown The proposed closure of a Timaru meatworks "exacerbates" the risk that more of these announcements could be made around the country, Beef + Lamb New Zealand says. About 600 workers at Alliance Group's Smithfield meatworks face the loss of their jobs after the company revealed its plan to close the Timaru processing plant. Staff were told on Friday they would be offered jobs at the company's other processing plants - but a significant number of redundancies were expected. Beef + Lamb New Zealand chair Kate Acland said it had been a "challenging time" for farmers and processing companies "due to the significant decrease in sheepmeat prices in the last few years, and spiralling costs on farm and along the supply chain". Beef +...

Central Otago. Photo: RNZ / Tess Brunton Central Otago is creating a strategy to shape its economic future with hopes it may ease the pressures from rapid growth. A recent report suggested more growth was on the horizon with the population expected to climb from 26,000 last year to 37,000 by 2048. The population had grown roughly two-and-a-half times faster than the national average over the last five years, and tourism was also on the rise. Local mayor Tim Cadogan said growth was a good problem to have, but they were grappling with a housing shortage that was putting pressure on staffing and businesses. Short term rentals were eating up a lot of the housing stock as were holiday homes. Central Otago mayor Tim Cadogan. Photo: Supplied "The biggest failure I've got as mayor has bee...

ANZ boss Antonia Watson speaking on RNZ's interview show 30 with Guyon Espiner. Photo: RNZ ANZ boss Antonia Watson might have voiced her support for a capital gains tax (CGT) this week but the heads of New Zealand's other main banks have bowed out of the conversation. Speaking on RNZ's interview show 30 with Guyon Espiner, Watson said she believed taxing investment properties at the point of sale was fair. "People are investing in housing for the purpose of getting a capital gain on it. And if that's the purpose of it, why not have that as part of the tax take?" RNZ asked the chief executives of ASB, Westpac, BNZ and Kiwibank whether they agreed. None were willing to comment. Infometrics chief executive Brad Olsen said he had been a long-standing proponent of a CGT. "For the point of ta...

Central Otago. Photo: RNZ / Tess Brunton Central Otago is creating a strategy to shape its economic future with hopes it may ease the pressures from rapid growth. A recent report suggested more growth was on the horizon with the population expected to climb from 26,000 last year to 37,000 by 2048. The population had grown roughly two-and-a-half times faster than the national average over the last five years, and tourism was also on the rise. Local mayor Tim Cadogan said growth was a good problem to have, but they were grappling with a housing shortage that was putting pressure on staffing and businesses. Short term rentals were eating up a lot of the housing stock as were holiday homes. Central Otago mayor Tim Cadogan. Photo: Supplied "The biggest failure I've got as mayor has bee...

Hotels are filled up and it's expected restaurants will be full this weekend, with lots on in the capital. Photo: RNZ / Richard Tindiller Accommodation in Wellington is booked up this weekend due to a double whammy of the World of Wearable Arts and an All Blacks game - and it's a welcome boost, Hospitality New Zealand says. The hospitality sector has been hurting in recent years due to a number of factors, including Covid-19 and the cost of living crisis. But Hospitality New Zealand chief executive Steve Armitage told Midday Report that the events this weekend were already providing increased trade. "We've seen increasing footfall right through the city, not just from a hospitality point of view but into retail as well." The All Blacks play Australia at Sky Stadium on Wellington's wate...

Workers leave a surprise meeting where they were told they could lose their jobs. Photo: Tim Brown/RNZ Alliance Group has announced a proposal to close its Smithfield meatworks in Timaru. It told workers consultation would run until 11 October and a final decision was expected to be made by 18 October. If the closure went ahead, Alliance said wherever possible it would offer workers the opportunity to apply for re-deployment at the company's other plants. However it anticipated there would be a significant number of redundancies. Photo: Alliance/supplied The lamb processing season finished at the Smithfield plant on Wednesday. Venison processing was still running, but workers were told there were no shifts on Friday and to attend the meeting instead. Alliance chief executive Will...

Photo: Consumers are feeling more confident about the future but are still frustrated with the current economic conditions. The ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence index rose 3 points in September to 95.1 - a reading below 100 indicated pessimism. It was the third straight month of improvement but remained below the long-term average of 114. ANZ chief economist Sharon Zollner said inflation and interest rates coming down was making consumers feel better about the future. "Essentially when inflation took off consumer confidence absolutely tanked and then as inflation was falling it was recovering until we got all those nasty recession headlines. But it does seem now that the interest rate cuts have injected a bit more optimism into the picture." But Zollner said it was important people re...

Photo: 123rf If New Zealand's gender pay gap continues to close at its current rate, it will be almost 100 years after the passing of the Equal Pay Act before women are paid the same as men. The Council of Trade Unions each year calculates the date that women start working for "free", because of the difference in their wages compared to what men earn. For all women, compared to all men, that date is 28 November. But compared to Pākehā men, Pasifika women start working for free from Friday. Asian women hit the "free" date on 21 October. The gender pay gap currently sits at 8.9 percent. It is down from 14.9 percent in 2008 but increased for a period during the pandemic. Council of Trade Unions policy director and economist Craig Renney said the gap could be caused by direct discrimination ...

Treasury's deputy secretary and chief economic adviser Dominick Stephens. Photo: Wespac Bank An ageing population, combined with higher-than-expected government debt and structural fiscal deficits, poses a major financial challenge for New Zealand, Treasury's deputy secretary and chief economic adviser says. Dominick Stephens made a speech today in which he outlined the impact of increasing longevity on public finances. While healthcare, society and economic advances had created improvements in living standards, society would have to adapt, he said. "Including regarding government revenue and spending… I have every confidence that we can make the changes necessary to live sustainably in a society characterised by longer human lives." In the 1970s, there were about seven people aged 15 t...